MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grantsdhe.mo.gov/files/cycle5rfp.pdf · give other K-12 teachers and...

MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grants

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

Cycle-5 Competitive Grants Competition for Professional Development Projects in the St. Louis City,

Jennings, Normandy, Riverview Gardens, and University City School Districts

PROPOSAL SUBM

All proposals must AR4 p.m. on, Thursda

ConMs. Laura

Missouri Departmen3515 Ama

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Laura.Vedenha

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ISSION DEADLINE: RIVE at the MDHE by

y, December 14, 2006

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Vedenhaupt t of Higher Education zonas Drive MO 65109-5717 22-1309 [email protected]

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OUTLINE Cover Letter …………………………………………………………………………………… 3 Proposal Narrative (Explanation and Instructions) ………………………………………... 4

Primary Project Partners ………………………………………………………………… 4 Additional Partners ……………………………………………………………………... 4 Partnership Commitments ……………………………………………………………… 4 Project Collaboration and Design………………………………………………………... 5 Project Objectives………………………………………………………………………… 5 Project Participants………. …………………………………………………………….. 6 Project Sustainability……………………………………………………………………. 6 Information Dissemination Process …………………………………………………..… 6

Project Evaluation …………………………………………………………………………… 7 Alignment with External Evaluation Process…………………………………………… 7

Proposal Deadline and Submission Process ………………………………………………… 8 Grant Administration and Regulations ……………………………………………………… 8

Use of Grant Funds……………………………………………………………………… 8 Continuation of Projects ………………………………………………………………. 9 Contracts………. ……………………………………………………………………… 9 Attribution……………………………………………………………………………… 10

RFP Appendices ……………………………………………………………………………… 11 Appendix A Definitions of Important Terms …………….. ………………………...... 11 Appendix B Budget Instructions ....................................................…………………… 13 Appendix C Required Forms .........................................................…………………… 17

Form 1 – Proposal Cover Page……… …………….. ………………………...... 17 Form 2 – Project Abstract……………… …………………………………… 18 Form 3 – Joint Effort Document. ................................................……………… 19 Form 4 – Letter of Commitment (K-12 Partner)…..………………………...... 20 Form 5 – Letter of Commitment (Higher Education Partner)………………… 21 Form 6 – Certificate of Assurances.......................................…………………… 22

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COVER LETTER Dear Colleagues: The state’s economic future and the quality of life for its citizens are inherently linked to a strong PreK-20 partnership that results in increased preparation for all postsecondary options, successful participation in college, and performance excellence of all educational institutions. Effective professional development that is designed collaboratively is an important strategy that can contribute to achieving these essential state goals. The Missouri Department of Higher Education (MDHE) is pleased to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Cycle-5 of the MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grants program. This program invites K-12/higher education partnerships dedicated to professional development for K-12 teachers in core academic subjects1 and is funded through the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) Title II, Part A of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Cycle-5 proposals will be for one-year only and will target grades four through twelve (4-12) in mathematics and/or science content areas. Approximately $150,000 will be distributed to eligible partnerships in the following high-need school districts: St. Louis City, Jennings, Normandy, Riverview Gardens, and University City. Awards will be made to those projects that show the most promise to positively affect: • student achievement in targeted mathematics and/or science content areas, • teachers’ content knowledge, • teachers’ instructional practices in inquiry-based instruction, • teachers’ use of assessment results to improve instruction, and • the preparation of pre-service teachers at partner institutions of higher education. Technical assistance workshops will be held to assist potential grant applicants. These workshops will provide a public venue to explore potential partnerships and an opportunity to receive technical assistance concerning the Cycle-5 RFP. All interested applicants are encouraged to attend one of the technical assistance sessions to be held on October 5, 2006, or October 18, 2006, at the MDHE offices in Jefferson City. Morning workshops begin at 9:00am and afternoon workshops begin at 1:30pm. Register for any session by contacting Laura Vedenhaupt at (573) 522-1309 or via email at [email protected]. The MDHE encourages Missouri’s educational leaders to build upon your passion for and commitment to high quality professional development that will generate systemic change and benefit students, high-need school districts, and higher education institutions. Sincerely, Robert B. Stein Associate Commissioner 1 See Appendix A for definitions of terms in bold italics

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PROPOSAL NARRATIVE – EXPLANATION AND INSTRUCTIONS Primary Project Partners Federal legislation requires that professional development projects funded through this grant include only eligible partnerships. Applicants must ensure that the proposal narrative identifies the following statutory partners:

1. A division or department of an institution of higher education (IHE) that prepares teachers and school principals2

2. A school or department of arts and sciences at an IHE 3. At least one high-need school district (for Cycle-5 - St. Louis City, Jennings,

Normandy, Riverview Gardens, and/or University City school districts) Community colleges may be a principal partner only if the college has a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)-approved program that prepares teachers and/or principals. A list of community colleges with DESE-approved teacher education programs is available at http://dese.mo.gov/divteachqual/teached/directory/jrcollege_drcty05.pdf. If a community college is designated as the lead institution and fiscal agent for the grant, a four-year IHE must be the other higher education partner. Additional Partners The proposed partnership may also include any or all of the following:

• Additional school district(s) (LEA) • Additional IHE(s) • Public charter school(s) • Private school(s) • Educational service agency(ies) • Nonprofit educational organization(s) • Nonprofit cultural organization(s) • Teacher organization(s) • Principal organization(s) • Business(es)

Partnership Commitments The proposal narrative must specify how each primary and additional partner will contribute to the success of the project:

• Outline the specific commitments of each partner including, but not limited to, personnel for instruction/facilitation, use of facilities, materials/supplies, graduate tuition, and additional matching funds.

2 The IHE must have a teacher education program approved by DESE.

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• Firm commitments from teachers planning to participate in the project should be documented and described within the narrative.

Project Collaboration and Design Projects must be developed collaboratively around concerns related to the mathematics and/or science instructional areas of the high-need school district(s) included in the partnership (Appendix C, Form 3). Proposal narratives must identify collaborative responsibilities for each partner during project implementation and must thoroughly document how the project-related needs were determined. Determination of needs may be documented by sources such as:

• Agendas, meeting minutes, district/building improvement plans, and other correspondence between project partner(s).3

Proposal narratives must explain the project’s design in detail, including:

• the format of the project including location(s) and a timeline of activities, • the number of contact hours per participant (minimum 80 contact hours per

project) and explain why this is sufficient for learning, practice, and follow-up, and how contact hours will be tracked by the project,

• how participants will be actively engaged over the life of the project, • how project content and methods are aligned with school district/building

improvement plans, • the specific Show-Me Standards and Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) to be

addressed by the project, • how content pre- and post-tests will be administered to participants and students, and • how instructional technology will be incorporated into the project.

The MDHE reserves the right to negotiate modifications in project duration and/or design during the award process. Project Objectives The narrative will describe how the project will achieve each of the following objectives:

1. Improve student achievement in mathematics and/or science 2. Increase teachers’ knowledge and understanding of key mathematics and/or science

concepts 3. Improve teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and practices that utilize scientifically-

based research findings and best practices in inquiry-based instruction 4. Enhance teachers’ use of assessment to monitor the effectiveness of their instruction 5. Measurably impact the preparation of pre-service teachers through improvement to

existing coursework or the design of new mathematics and/or science content and/or pedagogy courses.

3 Copies of these documents must be included as attachments.

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When addressing state objectives and any additional project objectives, narratives should identify baseline data where possible and must clearly identify measurable outcomes. Outcomes related to the five state objectives will be evaluated through collaboration with an external evaluation team. Project Participants

• Teachers in grades four through twelve (4 – 12) are the primary participants for projects funded by this grant. Participants from high-need school districts should account for at least 50% of the total number of participants in the project. Attempts should be made to obtain a critical mass of teacher participants from a school building or a school district. Funded projects should provide opportunities for teachers from private schools to participate.

• Pre-service teachers may participate in project activities but may not be supported by funds provided through this grant.

• Highly qualified paraprofessionals may be included as project participants if there is a mechanism that enables them to work with teachers in high-need school districts receiving Improving Teacher Quality Grant funds in order to obtain the education necessary for the paraprofessionals to become certified and licensed teachers.

• School principals and district superintendents may be included as participants in the grant provided that the administrator has meaningful participation in project collaboration/design, instructional activities, and follow-up sessions. Meaningful participation is expected to equal at least half of the contact hours required of teacher participants.

• If actual participation is less than 75% of the level for which funding was awarded, the MDHE’s approval is required before proceeding with project activities.

Project narratives must estimate the probability of participation by those teachers identified in the project abstract (Appendix C – Form 2) and must explain why these participants were initially selected. Project Sustainability Proposal narratives should describe the potential for project sustainability beyond the end date of the grant. Information Dissemination Process Proposal narratives should:

• describe opportunities participants will have to reflect on their new practices and to give other K-12 teachers and administrators within the partner district(s) feedback on how participation in the project affected teaching practices and student learning,

• explain how project results that are useful to other K-12 teachers will be made available on a statewide basis, and

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• identify how project results will be communicated to the education and mathematics and/or science departments or divisions in the partnership IHEs.

Project activities and modules may be made public through website postings. Project directors and participants are encouraged to share useful information from their projects at meetings of Missouri’s mathematics and/or science teachers’ professional organizations. Although the MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grant will not support out-of-state travel, project personnel and participants are encouraged to locate other funds to support trips to out-of-state regional and national meetings for dissemination purposes.

PROJECT EVALUATION Alignment with External Evaluation Process Achievement of the state objectives will be assessed by an external evaluator selected through a competitive process by the MDHE on behalf of project directors. Financial commitments and payment schedules for project evaluations will be established with project directors who receive awards. The external evaluation team will:

• conduct a training workshop for project personnel to disseminate information and to ensure uniformity in data collection strategies and evaluation techniques,

• assign a member of the evaluation team as a liaison with each Cycle-5 project, • provide ongoing systematic formative evaluations and develop summative

evaluations for funded projects, • determine what information will be collected and analyzed regarding participants, • measure outcomes related to state objectives for individual projects and for all

projects combined, and • submit a final, comprehensive report by October 31, 2008.

Project directors are expected to:

• schedule time during workshops and follow-up sessions for the evaluation team to conduct interviews without interfering in participants’ learning,

• secure assurances that the external evaluation team will have access to confidential data from both the K-12 and IHE partners (Appendix C – Forms 4 and 5) for reporting and evaluation purposes,

• guarantee the confidentiality of the data, • report requested information for every participant no later than May 31, 2007, • collect and submit teacher and student pre-and post-test scores and/or summarized

results related to the mathematics/science content of the individual project, and • regularly encourage participants to complete all survey instruments provided by the

external evaluation team. Failure to ensure full participation in required surveys may adversely affect future ITQG funding opportunities.

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PROPOSAL DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION PROCESS Proposals must arrive at the MDHE no later than 4:00 pm on Thursday, December 14, 2006. Adhere to the following instructions when submitting your proposal:

• Submit proposal beginning with cover page (Appendix C – Form 1) and abstract • Limit narrative to fifteen double-spaced pages • Use 12-point Times New Roman or 12-point Arial font • Use 1-inch margins on standard 8 ½ x 11-inch paper • Paginate beginning with the cover page • Do not discuss national needs in mathematics and science education as reviewers will

have extensive perspectives of national issues • Provide an electronic copy of the proposal in Microsoft Word format only to

[email protected] or as a CD that is shipped with the hard copies. Pages requiring signatures may be omitted in the electronic copy.

• Provide six (6) hard copies of the proposal. One (1) hard copy should be unbound and unstapled. Mail hard copies to:

Laura Vedenhaupt, Research Associate

Missouri Department of Higher Education 3515 Amazonas Drive

Jefferson City, MO 65109-5717

GRANT ADMINISTRATION AND REGULATIONS

Use of Grant Funds Proposals must include a budget and budget justification (Appendix B). Awarded funds may be used for project personnel and instructional costs, participant stipends and materials, in-state travel expenses, and other expenses related to the project.

• The maximum participant stipend for full-time participation is $15/hour. o Participants may not receive stipends for attending workshops or follow-up

sessions for a day the school or district normally pays them. o Administrators may receive up to $500 per school building to support project

follow-up activities or to purchase materials that will be used in the school to implement learning modules derived from the project.

o Administrators who have meaningful participation in grant activities may receive stipends provided that such does not conflict with employment contracts.

o Stipends for private school participants must be paid directly to the teachers and not to the private school.

• Funds cannot be used for equipment such as computers or projectors.

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• Project personnel and additional personnel costs, including fringe benefits, may not exceed 35% of the total grant funds requested.

• Matching funds must equal at least 20% of the total grant fund requested. o Matching funds from IHEs should include some portion of personnel salaries and

benefits; partners may provide matching funds in the form of free or reduced tuition and fees for participants, equipment/materials/supplies, substitute teacher salaries, or other free or reduced cost goods and services.

• No single partner may benefit more than 50% of the total grant funds requested. • No individual may receive more than 1% of the total grant funds requested if that

individual is participating in more than one grant. • Expenses incurred outside the project start or end date without prior approval by the

MDHE will not be reimbursed. • Project directors are authorized to reallocate funds between participant cost line items

if the sum of all reallocated funds is less than 10% of the project’s non-personnel budget. All such changes must be tracked and documented in writing to the MDHE.

Continuation of Projects No new multi-year projects will be funded under this RFP. However, successful one-year projects funded under this RFP may be eligible to seek continued funding. Continuation beyond the first year will be based on availability of funding, documentation of success, acceptable performance in relationship to the completion of proposed activities, extent of progress toward achieving state and project objectives, and compliance with grant administration guidelines. Projects seeking a continuation grant will submit the following no later than December 14, 2007:

• budget and budget justification for Year 2 of the project, • data that indicates how project participants, including students, were impacted,

o identify how involvement benefited them or changed their abilities in mathematics and/or science

o provide evidence of changes in teaching methods, attitudes, and/or learning styles • narrative that indicates the relationship between the success of the previous project(s)

and the anticipated outcomes of the continued project, and • information regarding the accomplishments to date if the project is still in progress.

Contracts Every lead institution within a partnership receiving funds from the MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grant program is required to sign a contract that obligates project directors and their partnership institutions to follow program administration regulations. Future proposals may be screened out prior to the review process if previous grant awardees failed to follow program regulations in an effective manner. Lead institutions are responsible for:

• administering the grant through a separate account (shifting funds between different cycles is not permitted without prior approval of the MDHE),

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• any cost overruns and expense requests not submitted by the due date, • ensuring compliance with auditing and accounting procedures, • record keeping of grant disbursements that show:

o how the grantee used the funds o the total cost of project activities o the total matching funds provided by partners o other records to facilitate an effective audit,

• retaining a copy of all related fiscal records for five years after the project’s end date, • sending the MDHE a complete audit report and any findings for each year in which

grant monies were expended, and • complying with the Certificate of Assurances (Appendix C – Form 6) submitted with

the grant proposal. Attribution Program advertisement brochures, written materials distributed to participants, and all disseminated materials must bear the following acknowledgement (with the appropriate figures/numbers inserted):

“Funds for this project were provided by a grant from Title II, Part A, of the Improving Teacher Quality Grants program administered by the Missouri Department of Higher Education. The total costs of the project were financed with $ __________ ( %) in federal grant funds and $ __________ ( %) from non-governmental sources.”

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APPENDIX A - DEFINITIONS OF IMPORTANT TERMS Core Academic Subjects: English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, or geography. Cycle-5 of the ITQG program will focus on mathematics and/or science. Eligible Partnership: An affiliation of a private or public institution of higher education and the division of the institution that prepares teachers; a school of arts and sciences at a higher education institution; and a high-need school district. These partners are statutorily required. External Evaluator: An individual or team, selected by the Missouri Department of Higher Education on behalf of project directors through a competitive process, that uses formative and summative methods of evaluation to analyze the effectiveness of all Cycle-5 MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grant funded projects. Formative Evaluation: A method of judging the effectiveness of a program while the program activities are happening in order to obtain feedback that can be used to improve the program or activities. Formative evaluation focuses on the processes by which the activities are conducted. High-Need School District: A school district that either serves no fewer than 10,000 children from families with incomes below the poverty line or has no less than 20 percent of the children served by the district from families with incomes below the poverty line and has either a high percentage of teachers who are not teaching in the academic subjects or grade levels in which they were trained to teach or has a high percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or licensing. In Missouri, high-need eligibility adopts federal standards for poverty level and uses MAP student achievement in mathematics and science as a proxy for teacher quality. School districts must meet both criteria to be considered high-need. The MAP test has five achievement levels: Step 1, Progressing, Nearing Proficiency, Proficient, and Advanced. School districts where at least 50% of tested 7th, 8th, and 10th grade students performed in the lower two levels (Step 1 and Progressing) in both mathematics and science were deemed high-need for the State of Missouri. Highly Qualified Paraprofessional: The term highly qualified paraprofessional means a paraprofessional who has not less than 2 years of:

• experience in a classroom; and • postsecondary education or demonstrated competence in a field or academic subject

for which there is a significant shortage of qualified teachers. Scientifically-Based Research: The term “scientifically-based research” means research that involves the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs and includes research that:

1. employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment; 2. involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify

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the general conclusions drawn; 3. relies on measurements or observational methods that provide reliable and valid data

across evaluators and observers, across multiple measurements and observations, and across studies by the same or different investigators;

4. is evaluated using experimental or quasi-experimental designs in which individuals, entities, programs, or activities are assigned to different conditions, with appropriate controls to evaluate the effects of the condition of interest and with a preference for random-assignment experiments or other designs to the extent that those designs contain within-condition or across-condition controls;

5. ensures that experimental studies are presented in sufficient detail and clarity to allow for replication or, at a minimum, to offer the opportunity to build systematically on their findings; and

6. has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review.

Summative Evaluation: A method of judging the effectiveness of a program at the end of the program activities. Summative evaluation focuses on the outcomes of program activities. Targeted mathematics and/or science content areas: The focus of knowledge content and pedagogical strategies for Cycle-5 is mathematics or science or the integration of these two fields. The knowledge content must be related to national and state standards. Underrepresented students: Members of historically disadvantaged groups usually characterized as belonging to a minority or ethnic group or other category of persons who have experienced discrimination and are specifically protected by anti-discrimination statutes. Minority groups include African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indian or Alaskan Natives, Asians, and Pacific Islanders. Underserved students: Students having one or more of the following characteristics: disabled, poor, minority-born, uneducated, homeless, or unemployed. Underserved students may include migrant workers, refugees, and persons living in rural/remote areas or other underserved regions of the state. Underserved populations are often difficult to reach, either physically or by the sheer force of circumstances.

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APPENDIX B - BUDGET INSTRUCTIONS (SUMMARY AND JUSTIFICATION)

This page contains instructions for completing the Budget Summary Form for aggregated expenses. A written Budget Justification is also required. Expenses may be lumped into logical categories but all items must be itemized and explained in the Budget Justification. In all cases, expenses must be directly related to the professional development experience for the participants. Federal law requires that no single participant in an eligible partnership, (i.e., no single high-need LEA, no single IHE and its division that prepares teachers and principals, no single school of arts and sciences and no other single partner), may benefit more than 50% of the award. Matching Funds: The partnership is expected to contribute at least 20% of the total budget request in matching funds and/or in-kind contributions as a sign of commitment to the project’s success. Matching fund commitments may be in the form of stipends, course credits, substitute teacher pay, travel reimbursement, classroom or teacher materials, cash, equipment, personnel time, and/or other expenses. Matching funds from IHEs should include some portion of personnel salaries and benefits. 1. Personnel Costs

Personnel should be listed individually. After each name, indicate the role of that person in the project. Salaries cannot be drawn at a rate higher than that which the individual would normally receive in his/her regular duties. Graduate students employed as project personnel should be paid a fair wage in the same manner as other grant personnel. Tuition and fees for graduate students employed as project personnel cannot be charged to the grant nor used as matching funds. Fringe benefits are paid only to those individuals who are employees of, and who would normally receive benefits from, the partnership institutions/school districts. Please specify the benefit rate in percent form.

2. Additional Personnel Costs This section is for additional personnel with different benefit rates from those in (1) above. Explain the roles of additional personnel and justify inclusion of such personnel in the project. Total personnel costs must not exceed 35% of the total requested funding.

3. Participant Costs

All items must be listed individually with per-item cost information and estimated quantities detailed in the Budget Justification. Books and materials and/or equipment are limited to those that will actually be needed during the project’s duration. It is expected that materials will be purchased as inexpensively as possible and that reasonable effort will be made to obtain materials as an in-kind donation from other public agencies and private enterprises whenever possible.

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If course credits are offered to participants, the higher education institution partner that is able to grant the credits is expected to waive associated fees. Participant stipends should not exceed $15 per hour of organized activity and presupposes individuals’ active participation during any period in which the stipends are earned. If the grant is to pay participant travel to the workshop, reimbursement is allowed at the sponsoring institution’s rate per mile, up to $0.415. Room and board may constitute a reasonable expense but should be justified in the Budget Justification.

4. Additional Costs This section is for costs other than salaries and participant expenses. Necessary travel and lodging costs for project personnel and consultant costs should be listed here. Capital equipment purchases are not permitted. All other materials purchased are expected to become the property of the participants or the school districts when the participants leave their employment at the district.

5. DIRECT Costs This is the total of Items 1 through 4.

6. FACILITIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE Costs

Institutions may recover facilities & administrative costs up to a maximum of eight percent (8%). Only the lead institution is eligible to receive F&A funds.

7. TOTAL Costs

This is the sum of TOTAL DIRECT Costs and FACILITIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE Costs.

8. Percent of Grant Funds per Partner No single partner may benefit more than 50% of the total award amount.

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BUDGET SUMMARY FORM

All budget requests must show the matching funds contributed to the project category. A written Budget Justification must accompany this form.

Lead Institution: Project Director: Federal ID Number: Project Title: Total

Grant Request

Partner 1 Education

Partner 2 Arts &

Sciences

Partner 3 High-Need

LEA(s) (Combined)

Partner 4 Other

Partners (Combined)

Matching Funds

1. Personnel Costs (Director(s), instructors, peer teachers, support staff)

A. B. C. D. Fringe benefits (approved institutional rate ___%)

TOTAL PERSONNEL COSTS 2. Additional Personnel Costs A. B. C. D. Fringe benefits (approved institutional rate ___%)

TOTAL ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL COSTS 3. Participant Costs (Stipends, Travel, Materials, etc.) A. B. C. D.

TOTAL PARTICIPANT COSTS 4. Additional Costs (List individually; detail in budget justification narrative) A. B. C. D.

TOTAL ADDITIONAL COSTS 5. TOTAL DIRECT COSTS (Sum of items 1–4)

6. FACILITIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS (Maximum rate of 8% of federal funds requested)

7. TOTAL COSTS 8. Percent of Grant Funds per Partner: N/A N/A Project Director(s) Name and Title:

Signature:

Authorized Institutional Officer Name and Title:

Signature:

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BUDGET JUSTIFICATION

Please use the headings provided below. The Budget Justification should address each of the categories that are included on the Budget Summary Form. Matching Funds Provide a brief explanation of the matching funds. Personnel/Additional Personnel Costs Explain how the salary amount for each person listed in either personnel section of the Budget Summary Form was derived by providing a clear calculation of the expected real-time contribution of the person to the project. Indicate the salary the person receives as a function of his/her regular appointment. Also, describe the roles of all personnel and justify their inclusion in the project. Participant Costs Detail all participant costs, and list the per-item cost information and the estimated quantities needed for the project. Explain why these expenses are necessary to achieving the project’s objectives and activities. Additional Costs Itemize all additional expenses. Explain why these expenses are necessary to achieving the project’s objectives and activities.

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APPENDIX C - FORM 1 - PROPOSAL COVER PAGE

Project Title

Name of Lead Institution

Name Title

Please specify college/department (e.g. Professor, Chemistry) Address Telephone Number E-mail Address

Project Director

Signature Date Name Title

Please specify college/department or school level (elem. or middle) or subject area Address Telephone Number E-mail Address

Co-Director(s)

Signature Date

Address and telephone number(s) where project director may be contacted between January 2007 and February 15, 2007:

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APPENDIX C - FORM 2 - PROJECT ABSTRACT Project Title: __________________________________________________________________ Lead Institution: ____________________________________________________________

Project Information:

Grade-level focus (Note: one or more from grades 4 to 12):

Project area(s) of focus Math Science Integrated Math and Science

Anticipated Start Date of Actual Project Activities

Total number of contact hours per project year

Number of credit hours to be provided: Undergraduate

Graduate Continuing Education Units (CEU)

Partnerships: (Please expand or condense appropriate rows as needed)

Institution/District/Organization Contact Person

Education Division

Arts & Sciences Division

High-Need School District(s)

Additional Partner(s)

For each school district involved in the project, provide the following:

• Anticipated number of participants • Anticipated number of students directly impacted • Anticipated number of students indirectly impacted

Project Summary - 300-500 words: Timeline for Project - table format:

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APPENDIX C - FORM 3 - JOINT EFFORT DOCUMENT The proposal must reflect a joint effort among at least three partners: a high-need school district, a department or college of education, and a department or college of arts & sciences. This federal requirement is intended to ensure that Improving Teacher Quality Grant activities integrate needed teaching skills with substantive content knowledge. (Note: It is generally assumed that a department/college of education is the primary teacher preparation division/unit of a higher education institution. If an institution has a different organizational structure regarding teacher preparation, please provide a brief description for clarity.) Joint effort can take a number of forms, ranging from informal discussions about the project to full sharing of administrative and instructional responsibilities such as:

• Each unit/partner participating in the planning and implementation of the project. • Each unit/partner playing a role in the evaluation of the project. • Instructional staff members are drawn from each unit/partner.

Statement of Joint Effort: The lead institution hereby provides assurances that this proposal reflects a joint effort between the three statutory partners. Representative of the High-Need School District: Signature and Date: ____________________________________________________________ Printed Name and Title: ______________________________________________________ Department: __________________________________________________________________ Representative of the Higher Education Department/College of Education: Signature and Date: ____________________________________________________________ Printed Name and Title: ______________________________________________________ Department: __________________________________________________________________ Representative of the Higher Education Arts and Sciences Department: Signature and Date: ____________________________________________________________ Printed Name and Title: ______________________________________________________ Department: __________________________________________________________________

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APPENDIX C - FORM 4 - LETTER OF COMMITMENT

K-12 PARTNER

AhlaI E

Ttaa S P S S

Submit one copy of this form for every participating K-12 school district partner. If two or more schools are in a single school district, only one form needs to be completed by a district administrator on behalf of all participating schools.

s a partner in a project funded by the Cycle-5 MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grant, I ereby commit my school district or school(s) within the district to provide access to classroom-evel teacher and student demographic and achievement data as requested by the Project Director nd/or the External Evaluation Team for the purposes of measuring the impact of MDHE mproving Teacher Quality Grant funds.

xamples of data that may be required for evaluation purposes include (but are not limited to):

• pre- and post-test scores in teachers’ and possibly students’ content knowledge; • teacher interviews; • student interviews; • classroom-level MAP test results; • aggregated building-wide and/or district-wide MAP test results; • results of standardized tests administered by the district; • classroom-level math and/or science assessments administered in the grade levels

participating in the project

he Project Director and External Evaluation Team guarantee the confidentiality of student, eacher, and school information in reporting. Analyses of all data collected will be made vailable to the K-12 partners so that they can be used to improve school or school district chievement in math and/or science.

ignature and Date: _______________________________________________________________

rinted Name and Title: _______________________________________________________

chool District: _______________________________________________________________

chool: __________________________________________________________________

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APPENDIX C - FORM 5 - LETTER OF COMMITMENT

HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNER

Submit one copy of this form for every higher education partner. This form must be completed by either • the dean of a school/college of education and a dean of the school/college of arts and science, OR • an appropriate administrator of the higher education institution on behalf of participating department

faculty or institutional representatives.

As a partner in a project funded by the Cycle-5 MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grant, I hereby commit my school/college to provide data and information about curriculum design and such processes as requested by the Project Director and/or the External Evaluation Team for the purposes of measuring the impact of MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grant funds. Examples of data/information that will be required for evaluation purposes include (but are not limited to):

• teacher education curriculum design, • relationship between the teacher preparation unit (i.e. school/college of education) and

content-specific units (arts and sciences department), • extent of involvement of the teacher preparation unit in professional development of K-

12 educators, and • pre-service teacher/paraprofessional academic records, if applicable.

The Project Director and External Evaluation Team guarantee the confidentiality of this information in reporting. Analyses of all data collected will be made available to the institution so that they can be used to improve curriculum design processes within the partner institutions. Signature and Date: ____________________________________________________________ Printed Name and Title: ______________________________________________________ Institution: __________________________________________________________________

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APPENDIX C - FORM 6 - CERTIFICATE OF ASSURANCES To be completed and signed by the chief academic officer of the lead institution

I hereby provide assurances to the MDHE that if this institution receives funding under the terms of the Cycle-5 MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grant RFP, it will:

• Conduct the professional development program or teacher education activities as described in

the project proposal; • Provide institutional or organizational funding and resources as stated in the RFP and the

project proposal; • Comply with the state requirement to audit the grant-funded project in accordance with OMB

Circulars A-21, A-122, A-133, as appropriate, and, within 60 days of the completion of the audit, to supply the MDHE with a copy of the audit report and any findings for each fiscal year in which those grant monies were expended;

• Keep all records necessary for fiscal and program auditing and give the MDHE, CBHE,

USDE, and/or the state auditor through any authorized representative, access to, and the right to examine, all records, books, papers, or documents related to the grant;

• Retain all fiscal records for a period of five years after the end date of the grant; • Comply with all regulations and requirements of the Improving Teacher Quality Grant; • Comply with the administrative procedures of the MDHE, CBHE, and USDE; • Use funds from the MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grant only to supplement and not to

supplant funds from non-federal sources; • Take advantage of opportunities to provide greater access to mathematics and/or science

disciplines by historically underrepresented and underserved student groups; • Comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000(d)), prohibiting

employment discrimination where discriminatory practices will result in unequal treatment to persons who are or should be benefiting from the grant-aided activity; and

• Ensure equitable participation of faculty and students from private schools where feasible. Signature and Date: ____________________________________________________________ Printed Name and Title: ______________________________________________________ Institution: __________________________________________________________________

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MDHE Improving Teacher Quality Grantsdhe.mo.gov/files/cycle5rfp.pdf · give other K-12 teachers and...

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